Tag Archives: C.D.

This post at LezGetReal is a lot to chew on, and will no doubt generate discussion and perhaps some soul searching inside the Beltway, particularly after we’ve featured Richard Lyon’s series “HRC: Following The Money” here on the Blend over the last few days. C.D. Kirven:

The HRC hasn’t historically been known for making tremendous progress on LGBT legislation and is why I was suspicious about the HRC’s support of Target, Hyatt & Bestbuy boycotts. I hoped if they were talking the talk then surely they were they walking the walk. I began to wonder about the identities of the candidates who benefit from Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) PAC contributions. What about PAC donations by companies rated 100% by the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI)? I decided to investigate and was very surprised by my findings.

HRC’s PAC has donated thousands to House Republicans over the years. They’ve given political contributions to Mark Kirk, Deborah Pryce & Mark Foley’s campaigns.

HRC has sworn to support candidate’s who support full equality for LGBT citizens and have gone on record with various media outlets to discontinue financially supporting Rep. Mark Kirk but the LGBT non-profit continued to contribute to his campaign. (Below shows a ,000 contribution in 2010)

Is it fair for the LGBT community to boycott Target, BestBuy or Hyatt because of political affiliations when LGBT organizations donate to anti-gay marriage candidates? Why does the HRC continue to finically support a candidate who continues to vote against repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?

…I guess HRC’s anti-gay marriage contributions are simply a bad business decision but as a representative of the LGBT community the organization should commit to upholding the standards they ask others to uphold. I believe the LGBT community needs an independent oversight board monitoring PAC contributions similar to Tea Party’s PAC monitoring groups.